


water drops and board flops

by maureenbrown



Series: femslash february [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Beaches, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Ocean, Pre-Femslash, Pre-Relationship, Surfing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 09:20:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9541316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maureenbrown/pseuds/maureenbrown
Summary: Hazel really doesn’t like swimming. She hates the smell of salt water, the sand that always gets stuck in her frizzy hair, and the uncleanliness of the ocean in general.Hazel really likes Will. He’s her brother Nico’s boyfriend. He actually makes her brother laugh, and he’s become a more likable person. She hopes he stays in the family for a long time.Will is a professional surfer. Hazel is afraid of drowning. As charismatic as Will is, the two things don’t mix. She only agrees to setting foot on the beach once her brother subtly suggests he’d like her to.And now, here she is, her toes buried underneath the sand as she sits underneath an umbrella. Will had convinced her to take surfing lessons, and she scrolls through her phone waiting for her instructor to show up, not that she knows what she’s doing. She’d begged Will to teach her himself, not wanting to make a fool of herself, but he had a previous date with Nico.





	

Hazel really doesn’t like swimming. She hates the smell of salt water, the sand that always gets stuck in her frizzy hair, and the uncleanliness of the ocean in general.

Hazel really likes Will. He’s her brother Nico’s boyfriend. He actually makes her brother laugh, and he’s become a more likable person. She hopes he stays in the family for a long time.

Will is a professional surfer. Hazel is afraid of drowning. As charismatic as Will is, the two things don’t mix. She only agrees to setting foot on the beach once her brother subtly suggests he’d like her to.  
And now, here she is, her toes buried underneath the sand as she sits underneath an umbrella. Will had convinced her to take surfing lessons, and she scrolls through her phone waiting for her instructor to show up, not that she knows what she’s doing. She’d begged Will to teach her himself, not wanting to make a fool of herself, but he had a previous date with Nico.

Suddenly, a text pops up from her screen and she clicks on it eagerly. Her instructor’s alerting her that she’s there, leaning against the nearest lifeguard post.

Hazel looks up and glances around, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. She scans the area, her eyes eventually falling on a tall, tan female with tangled hair in choppy braids with a skin-tight wetsuit, holding two surfboards in her hand.

If Hazel could blush, she’d be sure she’d be doing it right now. The sunlight reflects off of the boards, sending a heavenly halo of light across her instructor.

Numbly, she stands up, dropping her phone in her bag and somewhat hurriedly approaching her instructor. The girl turns in her direction, immediately smiling.

“Are you my instructor?” Hazel manages, and thankfully, her voice doesn’t waver, though it does sound feeble.

“Yeah, nice to meet you! You must be Hazel.” Her instructor says, obviously chipper. “I’m Piper.”

“Piper.” Hazel repeats, learning her name on her tongue. She’s already fond of her. “Nice to meet you, too.”

“So, are you ready to hit the waves?” Piper asks, shifting carefully to hand Hazel the board, which is considerably smaller than hers.

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” Hazel replies shakily, causing the girl to laugh. Her giggle is easy going, and Hazel can already feel herself getting used to the sound.

“Well, I’ll be teaching you the basics. You have nothing to worry about.” Piper says, pulling the board on top of her shoulder and nodding back towards the beach. She walks as if it’s no problem, and Hazel tries not to stare too much at the muscles in her back.

She shoulders the board too, and it’s heavy, but not as much as she thought it’d be. Hazel brings it to the water, dropping it down immediately and accidentally splashing the both of them. She looks up fearfully at Piper, but she just laughs and nods toward the board, pushing theirs out a little.

“Alright, get on your stomach and paddle out. I’ll tell you to stop when we get out a ways, so that you don’t fall down.” Piper says, sliding onto the board and waiting for Hazel, who clambers on a lot less gracefully.

“There wouldn’t happen to be any sharks here, right?” Hazel asks somewhat timidly as she starts to push up against the waves, turning to see Piper cutting through the water like a figure skater on ice.

Piper laughs good-naturedly, shaking her head. “Don’t worry, Hazel. There aren’t any, but I’ll be sure to save you.” She sends a wink in her direction, and Hazel hastily glances back towards the ocean, paddling and kicking her feet a bit towards the end of the board to catch up.

Eventually, they swim far enough out so that the waves are merely in the distance, the faint shouting of tourists sounding only like a calming background buzz. Piper turns her board to face Hazel.

“Alright, you need to attach the strap around your ankle. In case you fall off, make sure to swim down deep just in case the board comes back to hit you. Don’t worry, there’s nothing down there.” Piper explains, adding the last part quickly once she sees Hazel’s weary look. She follows her instructions anyways, and she ties the strap securely.

“Okay, make sure your feet are on the very edge of the board when you paddle.” Piper says, and Hazel pushes herself down, her toes dipping into the ocean, and Piper beams.

“You take instructions well.” She says, and Hazel just shrugs with a shy grin.

“Remember that your tip of your board should never be pointing up. If it is, lean back if you’re standing or slide back to the bottom, and vice versa if your nose is towards the ground.” Piper explains and Hazel nods dutifully with a small nod.

Piper hops off her board, making a small splash and motioning upwards with her hand, grabbing onto Hazel’s surfboard. Hazel stands up shakily, her arms spread out, and she moves towards the center, making Piper beam.

“Good! Hold on, I’m coming up with you. Be careful.” She warns, and Hazel scoots up a little more, wobbling a bit once the board shifts.

A pair of warm hands catch her around her stomach, pulling her back safely towards the middle, and Hazel relaxes against her chest.

“You okay?” Piper asks teasingly, looking down at Hazel, who shoots her a grin before looking away, flustered.

“Now I need to help you learn how to get up when catching a wave. Don’t worry, most people aren’t able to on their first try, or even several times after that. It takes practice.” Piper reassures, a bit softly near Hazel’s ear and she’s positive she shivers.

The teacher moves her hands to carefully touch Hazel’s back, pushing down lightly and she climbs down on the board. Piper moves behind her, her hair falling in her face slightly as she positions Hazel by her hips, pulling her up expertly into a standing position a couple of times. Once she lets go, Hazel’s positive she can feel her skin tingling.

She turns around towards Piper on the board carefully, brushing her hair away from her face and tucking it behind her ear before she can say more. Piper smiles appreciatively, her cheeks glowing a bit, and Hazel feels a bit more at ease.

“Do you think you’re somewhat ready to tackle your first wave?” Piper asks after a moment of silence, her hands moving to Hazel’s hips carefully, her tone careful and gentle. Hazel’s pretty sure she doesn’t do this with all of her students, but she’s definitely not complaining.

“Yes. You’re a good teacher.” She murmurs in return, and Piper’s heterochromatic eyes flash excitedly. Hazel’s noticed they change from brown to blue to green, and it’s almost impossible to pinpoint the color, so she finds herself looking at them a lot.

“Let’s paddle back and find a small wave.” Piper murmurs, pausing as she brushes her thumbs across Hazel’s hipbones, then stepping back and jumping in the water back to her own board. Hazel misses her close presence immediately when the normally warm wind nips at her body, chilling her to the bone. She climbs back down onto her stomach and paddles out with her instructor, the water thankfully a bit warmer.

They reach the break zone quicker than before, small waves lulling them in the right direction, and Hazel actually feels at ease among the water. She knows she’s safe, and Piper won’t let anything happen to her. Piper stops paddling, turning her head and waiting for a right wave, and Hazel takes a bit more time glancing in her direction.

“One’s coming up, you okay with this?” Piper asks, turning to Hazel, who nods, pursing her lips a bit and positioning herself to get ready to paddle.

“Alright… Stay safe, and start paddling now.” Her teacher says, and Hazel can feel the swell of the water behind her tipping her down as she combs her fingers through the water wildly. Once she knows that the wave is pushing the nose of the board down, she stands up, heeding Piper’s directions as she wildly waves her arms trying to stay up.

She rides the wave out for a couple moments before it pushes her unexpectedly, and she falls off the board, remembering Piper’s voice in her head as she sinks lower. She feels the unfamiliar tug on her ankle as the surfboard tries to break free, but she tugs yanks leg back, closing her eyes tightly until the pulling stops. She pops her head up, and Piper’s already swimming up next to her, her eyes wide.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” She asks, and Hazel shakes her head, opening her somewhat burning eyes as she coughs a bit and scrambles back up on her board.

“Wow, Haze… You stayed up for so long! I’m impressed.” Piper’s expression is excited, and it even gets another smile out of Hazel, especially because of the new nickname.

“Even still… Do you mind if we head back?” Hazel asks, pushing her curls away from her face.

“Nah, I don’t mind.” Piper smirks a bit, and the two get back to the beach without complications. As they take off the ties on their ankles and drag the boards back to the lifeguard stand, they plop down next to each other underneath Hazel’s umbrella.

“So, think you’re going to try surfing again?” Piper asks conversationally, and Hazel wraps a towel around both of their shoulders before reaching for her instructor’s hand.

“If you’re teaching me, I’m definitely coming back.” She beams.

**Author's Note:**

> this is all part of my femslash february ! stay tuned for the rest ;)


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